1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of gun propellants and in particular it relates to a gun propellant that is environmentally friendly, and sufficiently insensitive such that the likelihood of unexpected, potentially catastrophic detonations is reduced or eliminated.
2. Description of Related Art
Many gun propellant compositions are manufactured with, or contain, various compounds that may be environmentally hazardous or even toxic. This is particularly true of certain munitions.
For example, current formulation of a number of a number of widely used gun propellants contains toxic and hazardous materials including dinitrotoluene (DNT), dibutylphthalate (DBP), and diphenylamine (DPA). Significantly, diphenylamine (DPA) is classified as a highly toxic material, dibutylphthalate (DBP) is a suspected carcinogen and—according to a study prepared by the United States Department of Health and Human Services—exposure to dinitrotoluene (DNT) is associated with an increased frequency of liver, bile duct and gall bladder cancers.
Removing these toxic and hazardous materials from the manufacture of gun propellants would therefore be a great improvement in the health and safety of workers preparing such munitions. Additionally, if certain solvents that are commonly used in the manufacturing process of gun propellants were eliminated, a number of environmental concerns would be eased. Accordingly, a new formulation that permits both the removal of hazardous and toxic components and eliminates the need for certain hazardous solvents in the manufacturing process would represent great progress in the art.
At the same time, there are other undesirable characteristics of current gun propellant formulations—such as its susceptibility to an unintended detonation resulting from a kinetic energy penetrator—that, if eliminated or made more desirable, would also represent a significant improvement in the art.
Accordingly, the development of gun propellant compositions that are energetically favorable which minimally impact the environment and are sufficiently insensitive to unintended detonation(s)—remains a significant unrealized objective of gun propellant development and is therefore the subject of the present invention.